Born and raised in Des Moines, Cailin Stockdale can look back and see how lucky she was while growing up in Central Iowa.

Stockdale, who attended Roosevelt High School, realized this on her first day with Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Iowa. That knowledge turned into a desire to give a voice to those without one.

“I never realized how lucky I was to have such great teachers and how blessed I was to sleep in a warm bed and have food on the table,” Stockdale said. “I realized we have to make that commitment to our future generations of young people.”

Deciding where to go to college, Stockdale rebelled against family tradition, she said, opting out of attending Iowa State University and instead enrolling at Winona State University in Winona, Minn. Stockdale double-majored in public relations and Spanish.

Following college, Stockdale spent six months living in Costa Rica, teaching English and developing her Spanish-speaking skills. She also completed an internship at the American Red Cross, which fostered her desire to work for a nonprofit organization.

Through her work with the Boys & Girls Clubs, Stockdale helped raise money to build a fourth club at Amos Hiatt Middle School, something she calls one of her most surprising successes.

“Leading groups to achieve such a high financial goal is intimidating,” she said, “but watching a project from start to finish and seeing its completion, that’s the motivation that gets you there. You can’t think about the doubt.”

In her free time, Stockdale plays soccer as part of a co-ed team. She’s a member of Lead Like a Lady and donates her Saturdays to The Fence Project, a group that identifies and reaches out to families with dogs in need of a fence or backyard that will allow the animals to be off-leash. 

When she’s not working or volunteering, Stockdale said she’s learned to slow down.

“Coming out of college, and especially early in my career, I was pedal to the medal and always working,” she said. “I would be burned out by now, but I’ve learned to stop and enjoy those moments in between.”

Reasons she’s a forty:

• She was instrumental in raising funds to build the Baker Boys & Girls Club at Amos Hiatt Middle School and renovate Amanda the Panda’s corporate headquarters, the latter a project for her GDMLI class (2013).
• She volunteers with Everybody Wins! Iowa, GDMLI and The Principal Charity Classic’s Networking on the Green Committee.
• She received the American Red Cross Central Iowa chapter’s Spirit of Employee Excellence Award (2009) and participated in the Boys & Girls Club Leadership University (2011).